Internet Detritus – History Continued

Same as it ever was

The Massachusetts Body of Liberties 1620

More proof Pilgrams were more interesting than your history book would admit with a hat tip to my own dad for sending the link.

No torture . . . unless you’re convicted and we feel like you’re holding something back but we promise not to be “Barbarous” or “inhumane.”

45. No man shall be forced by Torture to confesse any Crime against himselfe nor any other unlesse it be in some Capitall case, where he is first fullie convicted by cleare and suffitient evidence to be guilty, After which if the cause be of that nature, That it is very apparent there be other conspiratours, or confederates with him, Then he may be tortured, yet not with such Tortures as be Barbarous and inhumane.

(Lev. 24. 15,16.)
If any person shall Blaspheme the name of god, the father, Sonne or Holie Ghost, with direct, expresse, presumptuous or high handed blasphemie, or shall curse god in the like manner, he shall be put to death.

Notice the Biblical references that back up the laws. What’s also really cool is that I can link to these passages in the Geneva Bible that the colonists were likely using. The Internet is truly amazing and these bible people have put in some serious work.

Strangely, I have to give a NSFW warning as there’s also stuff about homosexuality and not eating the animals that are victims of beastiality that you might have to worry about depending on your community. It gives quite a bit of insight into the community’s concerns but may not be worth any additional drama.

Anyway, it’s fairly interesting so far and I came across the Declaration of the Rights of Man article screenshot-ed above. Since I was already in a colonial frame of mine, this seemed to line up pretty well.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

2. The aim of all political association is the preservation of the natural and imprescriptible rights of man. These rights are liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression.

Given that Thomas Jefferson played a major role in the writing of both documents, they provide some interesting opportunities for comparison both in terms of these particular lines/words and the documents as a whole. Did Jefferson do a better job in round two? What impact might the subtle difference have?

2 comments on “Internet Detritus – History Continued”

Tom,
Let me go on the record, again, and tell you how much I love this series. What’s more, it is really useful to me right now, particularly the stuff on the Puritans, because we are teaching a survey on True Crime in America and starting with Cotton Mather’s execution sermons. There is one bit in there with Mr. Potter (not Grant ) wherein he is accused of 30 years of bestiality (which Mather calles “damned bestialities”) and the animals are publicly hanged for the crimes. How insane, and one of my professors mentioned they cross-examined animals on the stand in such cases, which for me is the coolest story I have heard, but have yet to see proof. Tell your Dad thank you, this will be awesome for the True Crime class, and keep an eye out for other crazy shit while you search the web with a fine tooth comb for crazy.